By Agnieszka Flak and Giancarlo Navach
ALBA, Italy (Reuters) - The home of Nutella bid farewell on Wednesday to Michele Ferrero, who turned a pastry shop into a confectionery empire and became a rare symbol of global success despite Italy's declining economic fortunes.
Ferrero, Italy's richest man, died on Saturday aged 89 at his home in Monaco, after months of illness. He was buried in his home town of Alba in northern Italy, where he took over his father's shop in 1949 and dreamt up the chocolate-hazelnut spread, Ferrero Rocher pralines, Kinder eggs and Tic Tac mints.
High-profile mourners including Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, ministers and top industrialists mixed with thousands of workers at the funeral.
"I came here to honour a great Italian, an incredible story of talent, local ties and human values," Renzi said.
Ferrero is one of the few Italian companies to have maintained its position as a global conglomerate through its home country's 20-year economic decline. It has remained privately held, shunning repeated partnership and merger propositions from rivals around the world.
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Ferrero has also become a model of "corporate welfare" in a country where a cash-strapped state is cutting back on social services. Ferrero helps pay for its employees' medical fees, hosts nurseries in its factories and organises buses to ferry employees.
The death of its patriarch may embolden past suitors to approach Ferrero again. Giovanni Ferrero, Michele's 50-year-old son and chief executive, reiterated this week that the company was not for sale.
In Alba on Tuesday, more than 10,000 -- including townspeople, Ferrero retirees and Italian executives such as Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne -- paid their respects at a 12-hour long public casket viewing in town.
On Wednesday, flags were flown at half mast during a day of public mourning. Schools closed for the whole day and businesses shut for the duration of the service. Businesses displayed photos of the patriarch, with "We are proud of you, thank you Michele" written across shop windows.
Thousands of workers and retirees braved the winter cold to watch the funeral, held in the San Lorenzo cathedral, projected on four screens around town. The crowd applauded when the casket arrived and again when it was taken away.
"Signore Michele has been like a father to all of us employees," said Patricia Viberti, who has been working for Ferrero for 28 years. "He has given us everything that a father would."
(Editing by Alessandra Galloni/Ruth Pitchford)